List Members Reply: In response to the thread in Evan Marshall's
Stopping Power Forums beginning with a summary of a report from someone
who purported to be a "forensic anthropologist," one list member points
out that the original report was discredited last year, in part because
the posting that was summarized claimed to be based on a number of
autopsies that was obviously impossible for the jurisdiction cited. I
thought I had indicated my skepticism about that report by enclosing
"forensic anthropologist" in quotation marks. I included the thread in
the mailing not so much for the original posting but for the ensuing
discussion - BS'ers don't last long on Evan Marshall's turf.
In response to my comment about the German StG 44 sturmgewehr, a list
member sent a link to a brief video about its origins:
http://shock.military.com/Shock/videos.do?displayContent=204860&ESRC=airforce-a.nl.
While there remains some dispute about the timing of Hitler's role, the
video seems fairly accurate, to my knowledge. I disagree, however, with
the appellation for the StG 44 as the "granddaddy of the modern assault
rifle." The StG 44 was clearly the inspiration for the AK-47 but the
first military rifle to qualify for the current definition of an assault
rifle was the Russian Fedorov, often dated to 1917:
http://world.guns.ru/assault/as86-e.htm.
---
Widespread Implications for McDonald v. Chicago?: Our interest in a
single Supreme Court case has perhaps never been as high as it is in a
case currently being briefed. The issues are fascinating on several
levels, and the potential impact of a ruling is big. The case is
McDonald v. City of Chicago, for which the court granted cert on Sept.
30. The petitioners in the case, a group challenging a gun-control
ordinance in Chicago, filed their brief with the court earlier this
week. Were the court to adopt their position - something well within the
realm of possibility - we could be looking at a significant shift in the
way the justices view the Constitution and individual rights... Of
course, nothing says the justices need to use the PI [Privileges and
Immunities] Clause, which was largely neutered by the Slaughter-House
Cases opinion in 1868, in order to extend the Second Amendment to the
states. But at least one justice, Clarence Thomas, has voiced a
willingness to revisit the issue. In a dissent in a 1999 case, Thomas
wrote: "the demise of the Privileges or Immunities Clause has
contributed in no small part to the current disarray of our 14th
Amendment jurisprudence." To clarify things, "I would be open to
re-evaluating its meaning in an appropriate case."
http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2009/11/19/will-chicagos-gun-control-law-lead-to-constitutional-reawakening/
As I mentioned yesterday, the petitioner's brief in McDonald v. City of
Chicago written by Alan Gura asks the Supreme Court to overrule The
Slaughterhouse Cases and adopt a very different interpretation of the
Fouteenth Amendment's Privileges or Immunities Clause. The obvious
question is, how many Justices will agree? My guess: only one. In
this post, I want to peer into my crystal ball and see how each of the
Justices (or group of Justices) will react to Gura's argument...
http://volokh.com/2009/11/17/how-many-votes-to-overrule-the-slaughterhouse-cases/
Let's say someone hired me to write an amicus brief in the McDonald
Second Amendment case, and my goal was to get the Court to overrule the
SlaughterHouse Cases (holding that the Privileges or Immunities Clause
is a virtual nullity) and get the Court to hold that the Clause protects
a right to bear arms, how would I go about it? First, I would recount
the scholarly consensus that SlaughterHouse was incorrectly decided, in
that the P or I Clause was meant to provide substantive protection for
individual rights beyond the extremely narrow category of rights
enumerated in SlaughterHouse...
http://volokh.com/2009/11/18/how-id-approach-the-privileges-or-immunities-issue-in-mcdonald/
..When choosing between the two pending cases in the Seventh Circuit,
why would four Justices grant cert on the McDonald case in which the
challenge was focused on the Privileges or Immunities Clause and deny
cert on NRA case, which confined its argument to the Due Process Clause?
Why would they have rejected the City of Chicago's proposal which
limited the question presented to Due Process? ...
http://volokh.com/2009/11/18/predicting-the-mcdonald/
.."The brief really is aimed more at the center left of the court,
because I believe we've got the political right of the court on our side
based on the Heller decision," said Alan Gottlieb, founder of the Second
Amendment Foundation. "I think our brief at minimum will make some of
the liberals a little uncomfortable, because, while they may not be for
guns, they're for rights - and what we're looking to do is really expand
the Bill of Rights in general in its interpretation as it's applied to
the states." ..."I really believe we are going to win," Gottlieb said.
"My firm belief is that the Court would have never taken this case if
they didn't want to reverse what's out there now."
http://publicnuisancewire.com/stories/210999-must-states-abide-by-the-second-amendment
As a critical Second Amendment case goes before the United States
Supreme Court, U.S. Sens. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, Jon Tester,
D-Mont., and U.S. Reps. Mike Ross D-Ark., and Mark Souder, R-Ind., are
gathering signatures for an amicus curiae ("friend of the court") brief
by members of Congress... The brief describes Congress' debates on the
Fourteenth Amendment, and points out the many occasions - from 1866 to
2005 - when Congress has spoken in favor of the Second Amendment as
protecting a right of all Americans, and taken action to protect that
right against actions such as gun confiscation and predatory lawsuits.
It also makes the case for Congress's interest (under its constitutional
war powers) in preserving an armed citizenry as part of America's
national defense...
http://www.theleafchronicle.com/article/20091119/OPINION03/911190318
State Rep. Shane Jett's signature will join that of numerous state
lawmakers around the country on a brief that will be submitted to the
U.S. Supreme Court for an upcoming case challenging state and local bans
of the right to keep and bear firearms. McDonald v. Chicago challenges
the constitutionality of the Chicago gun ban and will soon be heard by
the Supreme Court. Jett said he is responding to a National Rifle
Association request for state lawmakers to sign an amicus curiae (or
"friend of the court") brief... Jett said that gun rights are near and
dear to the heart of many rural Americans, and especially to Oklahomans...
http://www.countywidenews.com/default.asp?sourceid=&smenu=94&twindow=Default&mad=No&sdetail=2192&wpage=&skeyword=&sidate=&ccat=&ccatm=&restate=&restatus=&reoption=&retype=&repmin=&repmax=&rebed=&rebath=&subname=&pform=&sc=2396&hn=countywidenews&he=.com
---
Prohibitionists Ask Big Brother to Ban Five-seveN Pistol: In a letter
sent today to the White House, America's six national gun violence
prevention (GVP) organizations - the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun
Violence, Violence Policy Center, Coalition to Stop Gun Violence,
Freedom States Alliance, Legal Community Against Violence, and States
United to Prevent Gun Violence - as well as 21 state and regional GVP
groups strongly urged President Barack Obama to use his executive powers
to ban the import into the U.S. of the FN Herstal Five-seveN
armor-piercing semiautomatic pistol. [See
http://www.vpc.org/obamaletter.pdf for a copy of the letter.] A
Five-seveN was used in the Fort Hood attack earlier this month that left
13 dead and 34 wounded. The Belgian-made weapon, widely available on
the U.S. civilian market, is also a favorite of Mexican Drug Trafficking
Organizations (DTOs), who refer to it as the "mata policia," or "cop
killer." ... (Apples plus oranges make fruit salad, not necessarily
logic. With ammunition that is already highly restricted, the Five-seveN
is capable of shooting through soft body armor, as are virtually all
centerfire rifles. This is completely irrelevant to incident at Fort
Hood as none of the military personnel were wearing such armor and the
police officer who was shot was hit in an arm and a leg. In fact, had
Hasan brushed up on his skill with speedloaders, he would probably have
scored a higher fatality rate had he opted to use his .357 Magnum revolver.)
http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2009/11/19-5
---
Utah Firearms Freedom Bill Advances: The federal government has no right
to regulate guns made, sold and used within Utah, state lawmakers at a
committee hearing decided Wednesday. The Legislature's Natural
Resources, Agriculture and Environment Interim Committee advanced a bill
that its sponsor, Sen. Margaret Dayton, R-Orem, calls the "Firearms
Freedom Act." If upheld in federal courts - a big if, considering past
rulings on states' rights - Utahns purchasing Utah-made guns would not
face federal requirements such as background checks. "I love the idea of
the firearms," said Sen. Allen Christensen, R-North Ogden, "and I love
to swipe at the federal government on this one." The bill taps the flip
side of the Constitution's commerce clause, which the federal government
used to impose civil-rights legislation, among other rules, on companies
doing business across state lines. Modeled after a measure that Montana
lawmakers passed this year, it asserts that the federal government lacks
enforcement powers when no interstate commerce exists. The bill would
maintain a federal prohibition on machine guns, but otherwise would
leave regulation of locally produced guns to the state. Perry Dayton,
the senator's son and former intern who helped present the bill
Wednesday, said there are a few gun makers in Utah, but "nothing on a
real large scale." ...
http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_13818284
---
CNN Smears Oath Keepers: CNN has jumped on the Oath Keepers-smearing
bandwagon: "An anti-Obama group is recruiting members from the military
and law enforcement. CNN's Jim Acosta reports." That's quite an
assumption there. Both in their characterization of the group and in
what they say Acosta is doing. Their purpose is not to be anti-Obama. It
is to uphold their oath to the Constitution. When Obama upholds his,
Oath Keepers will be behind him. Founder Stewart Rhodes gets some
on-camera face time, and naturally the subject of guns comes up. Acosta
seems incredulous when he asks Rhodes who is talking about taking guns
away. The administration and their congressional allies are talking
about it, and what's more, they are doing things to incrementally erode
our right to keep and bear arms...
http://www.examiner.com/x-1417-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2009m11d19-CNN-goes-after-Oath-Keepers
---
Oregon Appeals Court Rules against Teacher: In a case funded by the
Oregon FIrearms Educational Foundation, Jane Doe Vs Medford School
District, the court ruled that Oregon's preemption statute does not
protect employees from gun restrictions imposed on them by state
employers. This case, which got international attention, pitted a
Medford school teacher against her employer. When it was learned that
the teacher, Shirley Katz, possessed a concealed handgun license, her
school and school district began a campaign of abuse and threats against
her. We agreed to take her case to court. After the Circuit Court ruled
that the school could, in fact, create rules to prevent her from
possessing a self-defense firearm, we appealed. The Court's decision can
be seen here...
http://www.ammoland.com/2009/11/18/oregon-appeals-court-rules-against-gun-owners-again/
---
Florida Sheriff Supports Exercise of RKBA: Whether it's a fear of
increased gun control or a perceived rise in crime, the numbers show
more people than ever are buying guns and getting permits to carry them.
At least one area sheriff tells Channel 4's Rob Sweeting that is a good
thing... Florida approved more than 90,000 permits to carry a weapon
last year and already sent out 75,000 applications this year... The fear
of stricter gun control under a Barack Obama administration is often
cited as one reason gun sales have increased, but most people Sweeting
asked about their reasons for getting a gun said it has to do with the
rise in crime - or at least the perception of it. "When I'm alone in a
parking lot, coming out of stores, going into stores or have the
grandchildren with me, I feel I need it in today's world, that extra
protection," Donna Rodgers said. Clay County Sheriff Rick Beseler
doesn't blame her. He said the average wait time for an officer to
arrive at a call is eight minutes, and a lot could happen in that
time... (When seconds count, the police are only minutes away. It's
refreshing to see a sheriff who acknowledges that.)
http://www.news4jax.com/news/21667630/detail.html
---
Oops, Wrong Store: An employee at an East St. Louis [IL] business opened
fire and killed one of two would-be robbers. Police said the employee
was inside the BFM Market in the 1000 block of Bond Avenue around 4:00
a.m. when two men pried open a front door and broke into the business.
The employee shot one of the suspects in the chest. Police said someone,
possibly the second suspect, took the injured suspect to an East St.
Louis hospital where he died. Officers continue to search for the second
suspect. Investigators were interviewing the employee who was on duty at
the time to determine if there may be others involved.
http://www.ksdk.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=190043
---
Oops, Wrong Gas Station: Two men attempted to Rob Gifford's gas station
in Reader [WV] Sunday night, but all they got away with were some
ventilation holes in their getaway vehicle. At approximately 11:20 p.m.
a man went to the residence next door to the station and asked owner Tom
Gifford if he could use his phone because his car had broken down.
Gifford got the phone and when he turned around, the man was holding a
knife and a second man wearing a ski mask was in his house holding a
pistol. The unmasked man asked for money and drugs; Gifford complied...
The duo led Gifford back to the store where they wanted more money and
items. "They wanted into the safe," said Gifford. What the perpetrators
didn't know was that the store owner had a loaded pistol ready on top of
the safe. "When they saw the gun, I was going to shoot them, but the
safety was on," said Gifford. "When I finally got it off they had run
out of the building." The owner then exited the building and unloaded
seven shots into their vehicle as they were speeding away, headed south
on state Route 20. The duo was in a white passenger van with a small
blue stripe. The money that was taken from Gifford was recovered as it
was dropped on the ground about 25 yards down the road. "The sheriff's
deputy asked why I shot at them seven times," said Gifford. "I told him
I ran out of ammunition. If I had a machine gun I would have emptied
that too." ... (The machine-gun remark is about as bright as not knowing
how to release the safety on one's handgun in a timely manner. In most
states it is not legal for a citizen to use deadly force once the crime
is no longer being committed.)
http://www.wetzelchronicle.com/page/content.detail/id/502037/Robbery-Thwarted-By-Shots.html?nav=5001
---
Oops, Wrong Grenades: The military-style hand grenades seized this week
in west Phoenix are similar to the grenades available on the Internet,
at Army surplus stores and at gun shows. Arizona Department of Public
Safety detectives found the 23 weapons inert and crudely plugged at the
bottom by U.S. quarters and Mexican coins, though they could be
converted into improvised explosive devices - similar to any makeshift
pipe bomb. Some Phoenix officers question if the grenades were the same
batch a robbery sergeant claimed he had access to in August through a
random tip from an informant in a case that triggered internal
investigations. Sgt. Phil Roberts, a former Phoenix robbery investigator
temporarily assigned to patrol in the wake of his August complaint,
claimed to be within 100 feet of the grenade dealer when a robbery
lieutenant told him to back off the case... Two of the three men
arrested on suspicion of selling the grenades for $400 apiece are
believed to be undocumented immigrants from Mexico, according to DPS...
(These are definitely not the military-grade grenades reportedly being
used by Mexican drug cartels.)
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/2009/11/20/20091120grenades1120.html
---
Maybe It Was Just a Rule Two Reminder: A Weehawken police officer
accidentally shot himself in the hand yesterday morning at police
headquarters and underwent surgery last night. Patrolman Michael DeBari,
45, shot himself in the palm of his left hand between his pinky and his
ring finger with a 9mm handgun. The bullet went right through his hand,
family members said last night from Hackensack University Medical
Center, where the surgery was performed. DeBari had taken the magazine
from the gun and was taking the bullet from the chamber when the gun
went off, his wife, Gladys DeBari, said. Her husband told her that he
never touched the trigger, she said... (I shared a shorter report on
this incident last week. While it's hard to see how the pistol would
have discharged if his finger had not touched the trigger, his hand
should definitely not have been in front of the muzzle. In the early
20th century the US Army asked John Browning to move the cocking
serrations on his .45-caliber pistol to the rear of the slide, to reduce
the risk of this type of occurrence. Nowadays it is quite fashionable to
have cocking serrations at the front of the slide as well. Rule Two:
Never let the muzzle cross anything you're not prepared to shoot.)
http://www.nj.com/news/jjournal/secaucus/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1257924328304500.xml&coll=3
---
Retrial Ordered for Man Who Killed Officer: The state Court of Appeals
ordered a new trial Tuesday for Cory Maye, convicted of shooting to
death a Prentiss police officer who raided his home... Maye testified he
was sleeping Dec. 26, 2001, when police burst into his home. He said he
shot officer Ron Jones in self-defense, but a Marion County jury in 2004
concluded he was guilty of capital murder and sentenced him to die by
lethal injection. In 2006, Circuit Judge Michael Eubanks tossed out the
death sentence after concluding Maye's former lawyer failed to represent
her client adequately during the penalty phase of the trial. The judge
sentenced Maye to life in prison without parole. On Tuesday, the Appeals
Court concluded Maye deserves a second trial, contending that his trial
should have been held, as he requested, in Jefferson Davis County since
that is where the crime took place... (Earlier descriptions of this case
have depicted Maye as an individual who defended himself in what he
perceived to be a home invasion.)
http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20091118/NEWS/911180360/1001/news/Retrial-ordered-in-officer-s-killing
---
With Friends Like These...: A gunman went on a rampage on the Pacific
resort island of Saipan Friday, first at a shooting range and then at a
World War II historical site, killing four people and wounding six
others before fatally shooting himself, officials said... Police said
the attacker first took aim inside the shooting range in the community
of Kannat Tabla, killing two men in their early 20s and the two
children. A 4-year-old girl was critically injured with a gunshot wound
to the chest... Authorities said the suspected shooter was a contract
worker in his 30s or 40s from Asia, but did not provide his name or home
country. However, several residents said the man was known as "Mr. Lee"
and they believe he was from China. The Pacific News Center identified
the gunman as Lee Zhong Ren, an employee at the shooting range. The news
station also reported that Lee left behind a suicide note that spoke of
a business deal gone bad... Saipan is the main island of the U.S.
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, which has about 60,000
residents and is located about 3,800 miles southwest of Hawaii. Saipan
is a popular tourist destination among South Koreans, with more than
111,000 South Koreans visiting the island in 2008, according to the
Marianas Visitors Authority...
http://www.newsmax.com/us/us_saipan_shooting/2009/11/20/288933.html
--
Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY
Firearm safety - It's a matter
for education, not legislation.
The tactics and skills to use a firearm
in self-defense don't come naturally
with the right to keep and bear arms.
http://www.spw-duf.info
